Building The Movement – December 2016 CEO Message

2016 has been a year tremendous growth, change, and achievement for the Responsibility Foundation. With gratitude and humility, we recognize everyone who has helped achieve this success.

This incredible team of committed volunteers, board members, and staff have accomplished far more than most people thought possible. More than $4,300,000 worth of donations has been committed during this year, with $1,100,000 collected in cash, another $1,000,000 in pledges over time, and the rest as valuable in-kind donations including printing, PR, and travel. For comparison, the fundraising efforts for this monument and movement over the previous 13 ½ years all together totaled about $750,000 with about half of that in cash and the other half as in-kind donations.

We worked hard in 2016 to spread the message of responsibility far and wide with the Every Kid Votes and Drive for Responsibility programs. These efforts resulted in reaching over 1,000,000 people through social media, teaching civic responsibility to more than 800,000 students with online lessons and co-sponsoring the largest presidential mock election for school students this year. Also, we inspired more than 10,000 students with exciting school assemblies with Responsibility Ambassadors (former Harlem Globetrotters and other comedy basketball teams) traveling the country to 48 state capitals meeting with Governors and other luminaries along the way.

This was also our biggest year ever for generating awareness through PR resulting media coverage with 77 different segments on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, other stations, newspaper articles, and online media coverage about the Statue of Responsibility and the foundation. This is a huge increase in awareness. We told our story to millions more people. In addition we opened an office for the foundation, designed and produced a variety of attractive professional materials and impressive and moving videos to tell our story, hosted two successful Gala’s, issued the competitive competition to determine which city will win the right to be home to The Statue of Responsibility, and built a great website, systems and tools to make it all work together.

All of this was made possible by our wonderful donors and corporate sponsors and you! We are so grateful to you and everyone who has acted to help and donated your time, talent, and treasure. I would like to specially recognize and thank Dr. Nancy O’Reilly, philanthropist, major donor, and Chair of the Board of Directors, and Ed & Celeste Rickers, philanthropists, donors, and member of the Board of Directors for their generous and impactful donations.

Progress on the Statue of Responsibility has never been better. We have worked with one of the nation’s top five construction companies on the pre-construction process and estimates which have given us the most accurate estimates of the amount required to complete The Statue of Responsibility, $125,000,000. As you can see, we are closer to that goal than the foundation ever has been, yet there is still much work to do.

Most importantly we built out the team with incredible and dedicated people. As I mentioned above, these historic successes have only been possible because of the great work of a great team and priceless volunteers.

Please allow me to honor one of them who has worked hard over the years. Leesa Clark Price has been the Executive Director of the Responsibility Foundation since late 2012. During that time she has valiantly strived to share the vision of Dr. Viktor Frankl and Dr. Stephen R. Covey so beautifully sculpted by the artist Gary Lee Price. Leesa has shared their vision across the country and the globe, inspiring the hearts and minds of people with this message of unity and connection through responsibility.

Recently Leesa made the decision she wanted to voluntarily resign to be with her aging father and with her growing crew of grandchildren. She shared that this decision has come after much consideration. It is hard to see Leesa progress from the foundation to this next adventure, yet everyone understands her decision and knows it will continue to lead to great things for her and her family. It has been an honor know Leesa, and we look forward to continuing to see her as we all move this work forward. We all love you Leesa, and your joyous spirit!

As we move into 2017, we are focused on achieving far more than this year. The 2017 strategic plan was recently approved by the Responsibility Foundation Board of Directors and focuses on two key areas as the natural next steps for the Foundation:

Build the Statue of Responsibility brand and the foundation through targeted PR and other initiatives

Raise more than $10M

The January issue will focus on the 2017 strategic plan and how you can make the world a better place and help achieve these goals.

But you don’t have to wait until the new year to be that difference. You can do it now. Post, share, like, forward, and spread the message within your network of family, friends, and colleagues. Invite them to join you in a year-end challenge to build The Statue of Responsibility monument and the responsibility movement by becoming a recurring monthly donor. It’s easy to do and fits into any budget. Simply go to ResponsibilityFoundation.com, and you can donate yourself or create a team to donate. Online you will see a wealth of great videos and other resources to share the message.

There is no better way to celebrate the meaning of the season than being an active part of creating a better future as you help build The Statue of Responsibility. Thank you!